Seventy percent of diseases are caused by the mind. "Relaxing and maintaining health" requires regulating the body, breath, and mind

Laozi said: "Man follows the earth, the earth follows the sky, heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature." This is the ultimate goal of health preservation. In the final analysis, people must let nature take its course. If you want to "follow nature", you need to get rid of the interference of the mind on the body, remove the interference of human consciousness on the body, and let the brain take care of it less. The best way is to go into silence.

[More than 70% of diseases originate from the heart]

Nowadays, more than 70% of diseases have been recognized as "psychosomatic diseases". These diseases all originate from the "heart" Yes, it’s caused by thinking too much.

Let’s look at the example of babies first. Pediatricians have always opposed parents holding babies when they cry, so that they can cry more to increase their lung capacity. But doctors will also tell parents that particularly healthy babies seldom cry, or even do not cry at all, because they do not have any physical discomfort or negative emotions that reflect physical discomfort, and there is no need to vent, so they rarely cry. Noisy. This shows that a person's mood is a direct response to the state of his body. If the body is healthy, the mood will naturally be good. On the contrary, a bad mood will definitely drag down the body.

Scientists from the former Soviet Union discovered very early that the human brain can produce millions of neuropeptides. These endocrine substances not only transmit information between the two cerebral hemispheres, but also transmit information from the brain to The whole body, thus affecting the endocrine glands and organs of the whole body, allowing the entire body to complete the instructions of the brain. This is the specific process by which psychology affects physiology and emotions influence the body. As the Chinese saying goes, "disease arises from the heart", and the "heart" and "body" interact with each other.

Under normal circumstances, after several months of repeated stimulation, the rat's stomach will develop ulcers, which is caused by a major blow to the mood.

Chen Xiaoye, a researcher at the China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, proposed at the beginning of his book "Principles of Quietness and Health Preservation": The reason why people get sick is because "high-level functions inhibit and interfere with low-level functions. This is an important innate source of disease in the human body." This high level first includes the cerebral cortex, which is the "heart" in Chinese medicine. The more the functions of the cerebral cortex are used, the heavier the thoughts will be and the greater the impact on the body. The brain functions at a high level and the body functions at a low level.

Under the same influence of external factors, whether you are sick or not ultimately depends on internal factors. A person with a "heavy heart" and complex thoughts will leave serious traces of emotional influence and have a serious impact on the body. What may be a minor illness for others may become a serious illness for him. Because their high-level functions suppress the lower levels too much, they are more likely to get sick than people with a tolerant mind.

Everyone has experienced it: when people are angry or nervous, they don’t want to eat, and their blood pressure will rise, because the high-level nerves in charge of emotions inhibit the low-level nerves in charge of gastrointestinal, blood vessels, and gastrointestinal muscles. Without peristalsis, appetite will be poor, blood vessels will constrict, and blood pressure will be high. This is the body's stress response.

Various diseases occur or worsen based on stress response. The so-called "stress" is the body's reaction to sudden stimulation. This stimulation will first affect people's emotions, which are high-level functions of the human body, and then the high-level will inhibit the low-level functions. What plays a key role in the occurrence and development of diseases is the high-level "heart" function, that is, the distracting thoughts arising from the "heart", which will inhibit the body's innate instincts.

When you get angry in a hurry, the human immune system will be suppressed to varying degrees, and the immune function will decline as a result, and various diseases will take advantage of it. Therefore, everyone knows that reporting good news to patients rather than bad news is to prevent the patient from becoming "anxious and angry" again.

[Don’t let your brain take over too much]

Zhu Danxi, a famous doctor in the Jin and Yuan Dynasties, said, “Yang is often in excess and yin is often insufficient.” That is to say, people are born with the root of disease. This root of disease is the always-excessive yang, which is the fire of "three parts of fire without disease". In fact, it is unique to human beings, the "heart" that is constantly moving and the energy that can never be filled. Desire.

The reason why humans are different from animals is that they have a "heart", a soul, complex emotions, and the ability to think. It is precisely the high-level aspects of these people that interfere with low-level functions, so people are animals that easily get angry.

People who are smart and have many ideas, especially when their intelligence does not bring about a good attitude, are often more likely to get angry. The core of traditional Chinese medicine health culture emphasizes tranquility of mind. For example, Taoism advocates natural inaction and Buddhism advocates empty precepts. The ancient famous doctors' health care methods emphasize that "the calm person lives longer, the impetuous person dies younger", "the main purpose of health care is to regulate the mind, and to regulate the mind is mainly to use the mind without using the mind." The ultimate goal is to not use the mind, that is, not to be distracted and to calm the mind.

The so-called "calm mind naturally cools" means that when it is cool, there is no excess fire at all. This healthy and natural state can allow low-level functions to be performed, such as normal gastrointestinal peristalsis, natural vasodilation, and immune system Start to put people in a healthy state without getting angry.

The ancient Zen masters were very frugal in food and clothing, and lived in the open air all year round, but they were able to live long and enjoy life to the fullest. This was because they were empty-headed and quiet, with no distracting thoughts. Through practicing Qigong, they lacked the high-level function of "blind command". The functions of the lower layer can do their best. Nowadays, many people have learned a little bit about it, such as not eating meat but only being vegetarian. But if you only eat vegetarian food but your heart is neither vegetarian nor peaceful, how can you expect to have a physical state like that of an eminent monk?

Laozi said: "Man follows the earth, the earth follows the heaven, the heaven follows the Tao, and the Tao follows nature." "This is the ultimate goal of health preservation. In the final analysis, people must follow nature. If you want to "follow nature", you need to get rid of the interference of the mind on the body, remove the interference of human consciousness on the body, and let the brain take care of it less. The best way is to go into silence.

[Enter a quiet state]

The reason why people become sick is because the body's instincts are affected, and this impact is mostly caused by humans themselves. "The patient's instinct is the patient's doctor, and the doctor is just a helper."

The correct treatment method for diseases is actually to restore the body's instinct. This was proposed by Hippocrates, the ancient Greek medical guru. He said: "The patient's instinct is the patient's doctor, and the doctor is just a helper." Unfortunately, the Western medicine he founded reversed this treatment principle. Nowadays, people think that the most active treatment is surgery, followed by infusion, and then taking medicine. When they are no longer able to survive, they think of seeing a Chinese medicine doctor, taking Chinese medicine, acupuncture, practicing Qigong to achieve tranquility... This suppresses the expression of instinct until the last moment.

In fact, the correct treatment for the disease should be to give up excessive management and suppression of the mind and body, and let the body's instincts emerge. At this time, the body's diseases, deviations, and disharmony can be repaired naturally, and the human body will naturally find balance.

Regarding this "very Chinese" concept of using silence to treat diseases, American Carrington had the same feeling in 1998: "We can compare the insensitivity to the body engaged in functional activities to We cannot see the stars in the sky during the day. Stars exist 24 hours a day. When the sun rises, we cannot see them because the sun is too bright. When the sun sets, it seems that the stars appear in the sky." /p>

Entering tranquility is to calm down the mind through practice, extinguish the sunshine of our thinking, and let the starlight of the body's instinct emerge.

The reason why silence has such an effect is explained by Professor He Yumin of Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine: First, it is because when it is quiet, the stimulation of the cerebral cortex from the outside world is sharply reduced, and the excitability of the cerebral cortex tends to weaken. The inhibition and interference of the central functions at all levels below it also become weaker, the body's perception ability that is usually covered gradually emerges, and the body will find its own balance. The second reason is that when it is quiet, people cannot see or hear, external stimuli are blocked, and people's own weak physiological signals are relatively amplified. The combination of the two produces a special feeling and effect.

This effect affects not only the body, but also the psychology and even the soul. Liu Tianjun, a professor at Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, expressed his feelings about entering meditation: "The way you look at the world is very different from before you entered that state, and people will become tolerant and peaceful."

According to ancient Qigong masters Apprentices will be tested for three years, and the test method is to do good deeds, because cultivating virtue is very important. It is said that "virtue is the mother of merit."

People who think about "I" all day long are too blinded by instinct and it is difficult for them to calm down.

[Achieve tranquility through posture, breathing and psychological adjustment]

The technique of tranquility involves three aspects: posture, breathing and psychological adjustment, namely the so-called adjustment of body, breath and mind.

First of all, adjust the body. The best postures are cross-legged sitting, single cross-legged sitting and loose cross-legged sitting. Cross-legged sitting means sitting on the ground with two legs crossed. Single cross-legged sitting means one foot is on the ground, and loose cross-legged sitting means both feet are on the ground.

Why do we need to cross our legs? Because when a person is standing, the upper part is solid and the lower part is empty. When the upper part is empty and the lower part is solid, the qi will sink, and the person will sit very steadily, which is very important for tranquility.

Liu Tianjun specifically cited the Egyptian pyramids to illustrate the benefits of cross-legged sitting. A researcher did an experiment, made a small pyramid with cardboard, and placed a razor blade at the lower 1/3. He found that the blade was always sharp, and if the fruit was placed there, it could be kept fresh for a long time. The researcher explained that the shape and structure of the pyramid can gather energy at the lower 1/3, so the pharaoh's mummy was placed at the lower 1/3 of the pyramid.

The cross-legged sitting posture is a bit like a pyramid, and the lower 1/3 is equivalent to the position of the Dantian acupoint in the human body. Therefore, sitting cross-legged and focusing on the Dantian is definitely more effective than other postures. The cultivation of Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism requires sitting cross-legged.

Of course, lying down is also possible, but you must find a relaxing posture. The ancients said, "Stand like a pine, sit like a bell, and lie like a bow." A bow means bending, and bending means relaxation. The posture of the Buddha in the Reclining Buddha Temple in Xiangshan, Beijing is a bow, with bent knees and hands. The posture of the reclining Buddha is very scientific, lying on the right side, not the left side, and does not press on the heart. His two legs are one above the other, both feet are on the bed, but the knees are overlapped. This posture has been verified for thousands of years.

Secondly, regulating breathing is very effective for insomnia. Inhale the air to the lower dantian, and control the breathing to only go between the upper and lower dantian, don't let it out. The lower dantian is an inch and a half below the navel, and the upper dantian is between the two breasts. Let the air alternate between the two, so that you can fall asleep quickly.

Regulating breathing is very useful for insomnia. You can't fall asleep just because you have random thoughts. You can fall asleep if you really don't think about anything. From another perspective, you can really think about nothing. Sleeping and not sleeping are the same, and this rest is more thorough than sleeping. This is quietness. There is nothing in your mind. After sitting for an hour, you will feel particularly energetic.

When sitting quietly and regulating breathing, people's minds are clearer than usual. In fact, that state is the state of the first second when you wake up every morning. At that time, your mind is empty. Slowly, you recall yesterday's troubles and slowly become "self". Therefore, the self is actually restructured every morning. Quietness does not make you have no self, but you have to return to the original state for a while.

Finally, adjust your mind and recite the two words "nature" as a crutch for entering tranquility in the early stage. Liu Tianjun recommends that you recite the two words "self" and "ran". Some people think of the shape of the word "nature", while others think of the sound of "nature". The shape of the word is more specific, and the sound is more vague, which is closer to tranquility.

The first step is to find these two words, and whether the expression in your mind is sound or shape.

The next step is to start reciting silently, using a slower and slower method, with larger and larger intervals. In this interval, you are quiet. It should be noted that when expanding the interval, do not insert anything else into the interval; then, you slowly lengthen the interval. If something is inserted, shorten it again until you can no longer insert anything. As long as you can ensure that the interval is an interval, the interval is blank, and it is quiet, you can practice until the interval is 5 minutes.

Before the operation, you must calm your mind. Any posture is fine, just emphasize the "natural" interval with nothing in the middle, and slowly extend it.

The third step is to seize the blank.

To turn the state where the word "natural" appears into a secondary state is to seize the blank space and stay in the blank space. Then the blank space will become longer and longer. Finally, when you can stay for 5 minutes, you will find the word "natural". There is no need for these two words, but you can directly enter the quiet state, and you will get started at this time.

Usually, it takes not a few hours, a few weeks, or a few months, but maybe a few years, for a person to go from never being quiet at all to actually entering this state, so there is no need to rush for success.

Liu Tianjun’s experience is: people with a broad heart are more likely to be quiet, and a person who can sincerely praise others’ success is more likely to be quiet. There are not many people like this. There are many people who are better than you and you compete with them. If a person can sincerely praise others from the depths of his heart, it will be easier for this kind of person to enter a quiet state than ordinary people, because being wide means being relaxed, and being relaxed is natural. If you are very competitive, it will be difficult to be quiet. Maybe it's because today's society is more utilitarian and impetuous, and few people can praise the success of others from the bottom of their hearts. Whether one can enter tranquility is related to a person's degree of balance, attitude toward worldly affairs, and experience.